Tools have changed our genes for millions of years. Paleo-people wouldn’t have been possible without them: artificial aids preceded and enabled their bigger brains. And the slings and arrows of […]
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By meditating on having compassion for someone in your life, a new study suggests that you can become a more sympathetic person in as little as two weeks.
“Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.”
How many times have you heard a politician or school board official vow to improve education by increasing students’ access to technology? Perhaps you’re familiar with the now-dormant plan to […]
The more hours you put in at the office, the more likely you are to become obese, according to a new paper from the US Census Bureau.
The way our political parties approach freedom risks producing individuals who are slovenly free and in pursuit of their most base passions.
Researchers working on a new project at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University have begun tracking, in real time, cases of false news and the stories debunking them […]
It may be that by increasing the already substantial blood-flow to your brain, exercise can help build your IQ and work to keep you safe from neurological conditions that result from old age.
It may surprise you to learn that the entrepreneur behind dating sites like OKCupid and Match.com got his start by creating SparkNotes.com and Edonkey, a video-sharing site.
When cultural commentators remark on the dangers of technology, they are not all Luddites by trade.
150, 50, 15, 5. Those are the magic numbers in the sociology of friendship, according to University of Oxford professor Robin Dunbar.
On a recent flight over the Netherlands, I found the landscape stare back at me
Theoretical physicist, best-selling author, and all around cool guy Michio Kaku returns to Big Think to discuss the science of dreaming, as well as everything Freud got right about our subconscious.
Let me start by saying that I love this month’s Atlantic cover story, “The New Science of Old Age.” I’m not raising it up just to knock it down. The piece, […]
A peek at Manhattan before the skyscrapers (though not before the relentless hustle-bustle).
“The only thing that’s been a worse flop than the organization of nonviolence has been the organization of violence.”
A new piece in Car and Driver details the awful corporate situation that birthed one of recent memory’s most spectacular automobile industry failures.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
Businesses that stand out on Facebook are in a better position to grow and succeed. John Rampton, in a piece over at Forbes, explains how to optimize your business page for Facebook search.
Perhaps the most spectacular example of rebirth in our galaxy, this cavernous nebula is giving rise to the next generation of stars! Image credit: ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0925a/. “For in the […]
Favorite sports teams become outlets for fans’ personal frustration. Sometimes this can be seen as a healthy way to channel dissatisfaction. Too often though, this channeling gets ugly.
Trace a page with your finger and Finger Reader will read it out loud for you. The device, currently in development by the MIT Media Lab, fits on your index finger […]
One way to understand a nudge—a government policy that inclines you to make a particular choice, often without your awareness—is that it makes it easier for you to do what […]
Only 15% of businesses close on the holiday, meaning working parents have to scramble to mind their children during the day.
How one artist is transforming the modern metropolis into Tolkien-style middle Earth masterpieces. Image credit: Stentor Danielson, via his Tumblr blog, Mapsbergh. “Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, […]
In 2008, in exchange for the billions of dollars they needed to stay in business, General Motors and Chrysler agreed to accelerate deployment of more fuel efficient technologies in light […]
Some industry prognosticators question whether legalized weed will compete with alcohol for Americans’ tightening recreation budgets.
Sunrise at Lake Laanemaa, Estonia.
Photo credit: Heino Ruiso / Wikicommons
The findings of a new study reveal that killer whales have the keen ability to learn the vocalizations of other species. Researchers came to this conclusion after observing a group of orcas adopt the songs and sounds of neighboring dolphins.
The importance of breakfast is treated as axiomatic by much of society, but the myth that it’s the most important meal of the day didn’t even exist 100 years ago.